Retro Mania, the retro gaming tournament held Jan. 18 in Canton, was a rousing success.

About 40 to 45 people participated in the arcade competition, and several people from the community came by just to donate. At the end of the day, $370 was raised — all of which was given to Luc Gibson’s family for medical expenses.

“The benefit was amazing!” said Sara Gibson, Luc’s mother. “Just knowing that people are thinking about my son and continue to pray for him is a wonderful thing.”

Kelley Worth, co-owner/operator of @Home Computer Services and the Retro Arcade, was also grateful.

“I just want to say thank you to the Retro Junkies. I’m so happy we met (them) as friends,” said Worth. “We also want to thank Mr. William Culver for his support. I want to thank our supporters for our door prizes, which are Polly’s Florist & Gifts, Sid’s on Main, Ree-Crochet and More, and Retro Gamer. You’ve all made this possible and we invite you back because we’re already planning another tournament this summer.”

Gibson, the 6-month old son of Brian and Sara Gibson of Canton, has a vein of Galen malformation, a very rare congenital defect that occurs when the veins and arteries near the center of the brain form a direct connection to each other during the early stages of prenatal development.

The result is high-pressure blood flow from the brain into the heart, which can lead to congestive heart failure soon after birth or to significant neurological problems within the first year of life. A vein of Galen malformation affects roughly 1 in 200,000 infants a year. Diagnosed at 12-days old, Gibson was given a 25 percent chance of survival and was rushed to Atlanta for treatment. And at 19-days old, he underwent his first surgery.

“We were given the worst case scenario,” said Sara. “He had a 75 percent mortality rate, his lungs were so filled with fluid he needed two different machines to keep them going, his heart was twice the size it should be and beating at such a fast rate they didn’t even think he would survive the ambulance trip from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to Emory … If we didn’t do the surgery there was 100 percent certainty that he would die, probably within the week. So a 25 percent chance is what we took.”

“It took them over four hours to get it closed off 60-70 percent. I’ll never forget when the team of doctors came into the waiting room and told us how great he was doing … There were six doctors, five nurses, two anesthesiologists, two respiratory technicians, six radiologists, and who knows who else was just watching because they might never see this again. The effects of [the surgery] were almost immediate … After a few bumps in the road and 4 and 1/2 weeks, we finally got to come home.”

Gibson has another surgery scheduled Feb. 7 to non-intrusively close the aneurysm in his brain. “I can’t say enough about all of his doctors and nurses. It’s so nice to see people who truly care about your child. When we left Mission PICU, the nurses and doctors there continued to call and check on him. Calls from his pediatrician at Haywood Pediatrics were nearly every day.”

The winners of the Retro Mania tournament are Rob Worth, for the high score in “Galaga;” William Culver, for the high score in “Donkey Kong;” and Phil Vaughn, for the high score in “Ms. Pacman.” The grand champion, with a combined score of 517,300 points for all three games, was Rob Worth.